Original (Manga): Ikoku Irokoi Romantan (ISBN: 4877346236)
Mangaka: やまね あやの Yamane Ayano
Released: 4/25/2003 Web Pastel Collection (Intercommunications)
Catalogue Number: INCD-2112
Price: 2700 yen (with tax), 2572 yen (w/out tax)
Cast:
諏訪部順一 Suwabe Junichi (アルベルト・ヴァレンティアノ Albert Valentiano) x 伊藤健太郎 Itou Kentarou (近江鸞丸 Oumi Ranmaru)
置鮎龍太郎 Okiayu Ryoutarou (権藤龍司 Gondou Ryuuji)
川上とも子 Kawakami Tomoko (近江 薫 Oumi Kaoru)
Summary + Review:
There is only one word fitting for Yamane Ayano's art: SEXY (Ken melts and steams on the floor a little bit). Yamane-sensei has perfected the male anatomy so that no matter how you look at her characters (BOTH seme and uke), they emanate sensuality and seductiveness. Yamane-sensei draws very detailed (and gorgeous) outlines of the human body, especially the curves of the hips and legs and the muscles of the chest. I would also note that she draws very erotic erections XDDDDDD especially when showing through a layer of clothing...(okay, call me perverted). Anyways (aHERMm -_-;;;;;) getting back to the DRAMA, I would say that the Ikoku Irokoi Romantan drama is as enjoyable AND as erotic as the manga counterpart, and it's NOT ONLY because the cast is consisted of Suwabe Junichi, Itou Kentarou, and Okiayu Ryoutarou lol (although it IS largely because of that...*sweatdrops*). At any rate, I mean, what can you object about the drama when it's voiced by such a collection of delicious male voice actors? *ROFL*
The opening scene sets off, very dramatically, very romantically, on the Mediterranean waves (background Hollywood movie-like music), and Suwabe-sama's perfectly smooth, deep, and rich voice describing the Italian cuise traveling through the ocean and the grand wedding that is taking place; In addition to the steamy Mediterranean, the Japanese wedding adds another mysterious oriental air to the atmosphere on the cruise. However, this peaceful sunset-tinted evening is suddenly disturbed by the loud ruckus in the middle of the crowd. The young third-generation leader of the Kantou Oumi-gumi (some sort of Japanese mafia) Oumi Ranmaru (voiced by Itou Kentarou) is throwing his temper at some foreigner in the lounge. Apparently, although it is his wedding day, Ranmaru is not happy at all. His marriage with Kaoru is actually a sham in order to increase the range of the Oumi-gumi's power. The couple argues (with much spirit lol...I actually think they're quite a fitting couple...*sweatdrops*), and Ranmaru gets kicked out of the room.
At the bar, Ranmaru sulkily orders a drink of sake, but unfortunately the bartender only knows how to repeat "watashi, nihongo, wakarimasen" (in really bad accent too *rofl*). On top of the ignorant bartender, two drunk foreigners passed by and made fun of Ranmaru (Sorry....samurai~~~sushi, tempura, vacation---fujiyama!! hahahaha~~~~). This last straw made Ranmaru explode on the foreigners (background erm...think Magic Knight Rayearth robot-fighting scene music....*lost for description*). At this time, Albert Valentiano (Suwabe-sama) comes along and says some excellent English (Ken melts at Suwabe-sama's perfect English, especially the threatening "Get out of here!"), chasing the rude foreigners away. Okay, I HAVE to rant more about Suwabe-sama's English XDDDD this part is actually a mix of English and immediately followed by the accompanying Japanese. MY GOD, I almost nosebled right at that bit of English that Suwabe-sama spoke...and especially when it's mixed in with the Japanese counterparts, the Japanese sounds softer and more controlled, while the English voice becomes lower and more commanding (uh, MELT again at the drop in the voice at the last syllable in "passenger,"). so erm, while Ken goes all squishy at the voice that sounds as nice as airline-speaker-announcement voices, lets er, get back on track? eh...
After stopping Ranmaru from exploding on the foreigners, Albert excitedly introduces himself, and says much things about how he loves the Japanese culture, that he visited Japan a total of 36 times, and if he can make friends with Ranmaru, etc. Ranmaru is a bit...overwhelmed, but soon falls into a cheerful conversation with Albert after a few drinks. Late at night, Albert carries the drunk Ranmaru to his room. Lying on the bed, Ranmaru's disarranged clothing reveals quite...a bit of his body XD, and Albert "do-kuns" for a bit lol. Asking if Ranmaru should go back to his own room, Ranmaru replies that he'll sleep here in Albert's room for the night, and that he doesn't care about his new wife anyways. Albert is greatly encouraged, and begins to make moves on Ranmaru. Well, by the time Ranmaru realizes what Albert is doing, he is too drunk and feels too good to resist, anwyays XDDDDDD. Following is of course, a very steamy sex scene (OMG the noises Al makes with kisses....*nosebleeds*). Suwabe-sama sounds absolutely melting when he softly says "chan-to shita SEKKUSU-desu" [This is what sex is all about]) and Itou Kentarou sounds so cute when he gasps, and when he cries out "Ite!!! Ite-yo ITEEEEE!! Oyajiiiiiii~~tasukete-kureeeeeeeeee~~~~~" [it HURTS, IT REALLY HUUURTS!! Help me, old maaaaaan (daddy)!!] in his mind lol...
The next morning. Ranmaru is about to leave the cruise, when he hears Al's voice off a distance!! (O_o) Turning around and about to yell at Al for good (and quickly baffled by Al's claim on "boku no Ranmaru" lol), a young sailor comes after Al, shouting "Captain!! Please return to your position!!" Surprised that Al is actually the captain, Ranmaru angrily accuses him of playing (last night ;D) during work hours, and shouts "Usotsukeee!!" [Liar!] while the music cheerily closes to an end. Of course, that's NOT quite the end to Albert and Ranmaru's one-night love, but the honeymoon with Kaoru comes first in the list of to-do things, and the newlyweds depart for Florence, Italy.
Switch to a lively Mediterranean dance music, Kaoru loudly complains that in such a beautiful place, she really should find a handsome Italian man and fall in love with him (I LIKE Kaoru SO MUCH XDDDD and she's so much fun, I think she's one of my favorite female characters in BL dramas XDDDDD). She stares back at the upset Ranmaru, and siiiighs....of course, Kaoru then goes into complaining that Ranmaru isn't romantic at ALL, blah blah, etc etc. Ranmaru laughs at the idea that he might even be remotely romantic to Kaoru, and suddenly, Al's voice and his alluring words floats past his ears:
"Ranmaru...your skin is so soft and pretty...you were so great yesterday...I'll never forget last night..."
...and I SWEAR, sometimes 3-D sound should be CURSED. That sentence....Suwabe-sama's soft voice floating from the left, and then comes in again in from the right, and floats back to the left side before disappearing somewhere off the far back of the head...and OMG, I can't haaaaaandleeee it~~~~(please refer to Midorikawa's fangirl scream in Kirepapa) *melts badly onto the floor*
Ken takes some time to recover from listening to that part)
Okay, I realize that if I drag this review on any longer, it'll REALLY never finish *dies* so some general summary...anyways, accidentally left behind by his wife, Ranmaru meets Al by chance on the road...and then of course, some mild fanservice (but Suwabe-sama's voice itself is fanservice enough *melts*) Meanwhile the honeymoon party has traveled from Milan to Florence to finally, Rome. Some local Italian black market sellers apparently set their eyes on Ranmaru (a rare exotic flower from the Orient lol), and kidnaps him for human auction on a cruise. Poor Ranmaru is drugged, thrown around, and almost raped (MUCH fanservice THERE rofl) before he manages to escape. In the boiler room of the ship, Ranmaru weakly falls to the floor and cries for Al's name. Someone's footsteps sound from a distance off, which turns out to be (you guessed it) Al who arrived to rescue the uke in distress. The two have another shot "at it" in the boiler room (another box of tissue for Ken to wipe off the nosebleed), and finally, Al takes off with Ranmaru in his arms and leaves the cruise on a helicopter XDD. Congratulations to the happy elopement of Ranmaru and Al, and that's about it to the drama! XDDDD Now that I finished telling the tale, time for more rambling! (see below)
Manga rant! One amusing thing I noticed about Ranmaru throughout the manga is that the UKE-ness really grows on him O_o...In the beginning he seems very "Sanosuke-ish," but as the manga progresses, his frame becomes thinner, his hair grew longer, and DAMMIT, his kimono hangs looser around his body until at the end of the manga, it's f*ing FALLING off of him ALL THE TIME XDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD I swear Ranmaru at the end of the manga reminds me strongly of Benten from Cyougonka....all thanks to Yamane-sensei's gorgeous art, too *dies* OMG, Ranmaru's LEGS at the page where Al is lifting him onto the helicopter DAMMIT those are such perfectly thin beautiful uke legs, and his weak EXPRESSION...NO WONDER he got kidnapped for human auction (I would want to buy him too!! XDD)
Ooh, BTW, since this is a habit that has stayed with me ever since the 9:50 in Abunai Shiawase Chou Bangaihen (sweatdrops), the last H scene of Suwabe x Itou is a good 3 minutes and 36 seconds long LOL. And Ken officially declare herself as irrestistant to WET NOISES as much as uke groans....(dies from bloodloss) that and Itou-san's airy gasps....*faints* so yeah...(crawls away)
...And Okiayu-sama, I totally ignored him T_T He plays the unfortunate Gondou, another gang leader who has traveled to Italy and on top of finding that Ranmaru has fell for a foreign MAN, he had to try to rescue Ranmaru from the auction by bidding for him in the crowd ^^;;;;; and it's also Gondou who freaked out when he saw Al's helicopter taking off with Ranmaru in it....Okiayu's frenzied shout into the helicopter receiver and his "wakkate no ka?? O_o" warning Al "do you understand what you're doing??" is adorable XDDDD;;;; Really, Gondou is just an insert comic relief, but sigh...Okiayu-sama....I'll love you no matter what!! XDD;;;;;;;